The Only Home They’ve Ever Known
by roseateglow
Summary: Nearly six long years after the crash of Flight 815, rescue finally arrives. But for those born on the island, those old enough to understand, the departure is harder to accept.


A/N: Told kind of from the point of view of Claire's five-year-old son, Aaron. For the purpose of my story, the dynamite used to blow open the hatch didn't work, "The Others" was a story made up by Danielle, and the second raft was caught in the monsoon winds and had to return to the island two days out. I really have no explanation for the monster or the polar bear(s), so use your imagination!

Aaron hated the caves. It wasn't that they were too dark or too busy, but that was where the important "grown-up" things happened. At going on six, Aaron was not a grown-up. He was special because he was the oldest of the children on the island. Walt was sixteen, already a grown-up, but Aaron was the first baby born on the island, something that everyone said made him special. Aaron didn't see how. There were eleven other children, including his own younger brother, Patrick, who was two. Aaron liked Elisabeth best. She was Jack and Kate's older daughter, and she was four and she and Aaron were inseparable.

That morning Aaron wanted to go explore the jungle and Charlie had said no. It was funny; all of the other kids called their fathers "Daddy," but Aaron called his father "Charlie." His mother had told him, not long ago, that his real daddy was called Thomas and he lived in Sydney, Australia. Aaron didn't understand—to him Australia was just a name. All he knew, all the other children knew, was the island. But he still loved Charlie and maybe Charlie wasn't his real daddy, but in his heart Charlie was, and that was all that mattered to Aaron.

"Aaron, no, for the last time, you're not going into the jungle."

"Please? Why not? Everybody else gets to go to the jungle; the only time I get to go is when we go to the beach. I don't want to stay with the babies!"

"I'm _not_ a baby," protested four-year-old Kara, who was Sayid and Shannon's daughter. Aaron's complaint sent some of the toddlers into protest that they weren't babies either, which got the baby crying, and all the adults hurried to quiet them. Aaron sulked; he knew he was in trouble for causing all this fuss.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaron." Elisabeth grabbed his arm. "I wanna go to the beach. Come with me, please?"

Aaron smiled at her, half because it would get him out of trouble, at least for a while. "Okay. Charlie, can we go down to the beach? We can take the babies to Uncle Sawyer, he won't mind."

Charlie nodded, "Good idea, kiddo," which made Aaron feel proud, even if it _wasn't_ his idea. He waited patiently for the smaller ones to be loaded into the little cart that Sayid and Locke had made. Only Jack and Kate's baby, Rose, stayed behind, sleeping quietly in the little cradle that Charlie had told Aaron was made for him before he was born.

Charlie pulled the cart with the toddlers, leading Aaron, Elisabeth, Kara, Liko, (Jin and Sun's son), Sam and Annie, the two other "older" children, to walk close behind. Aaron wanted to sneak away, but Charlie knew him better, and brought him up to the front to keep an eye on him. As they emerged from the tree-covered path onto the warm sand, the older children broke away from Charlie and raced barefoot along the seaside, laughing and giggling as they ran toward where Sawyer sat, like an uncle, laughing and going to help Charlie with the toddlers, who crawled all over him. Aaron and the others dug their bare toes into the sand and squealed when the water lapped at their legs and bottoms. For the island children, shoes were usually things only for adults. Their clothes came from the stock of clothes kept in suitcases, hemmed and stitched and mended to suit the wearer—none of them realized or cared that the former owner of some of their clothes, those that were actually children's sized and fit, probably belonged to a child who had died in the plane crash. But none of them even knew what a plane was, or had ever seen a real one, only the little toy one that Kate had that she sometimes let them play with. Things the adults talked about were unknown to the children. Boats, cars, and restaurants, even schools: only Aaron and Kara were old enough to have attended one, but the adults taught them all their letters, numbers, simple math and how to read (Claire had brought some children's books to give to Aaron long ago from the plane). But the things taught in normal schools didn't apply on the island. The children had to learn how to survive like their parents.

Aaron and Liko decided to build a sandcastle. Charlie had taught them how to make them, but neither of them knew exactly what a castle was except kings lived there, but what was a king? Sayid tried to explain but he used lots of words they didn't understand, and finally gave up because they kept giving him blank stares.

The boys were adding turrets and little windows when suddenly Kara began to scream that something was in the water. The boys ignored her; she was finicky and always afraid of the fish that swam past her toes.

"Go away," Liko said impatiently. "You're noisy and you're bothering us. We are trying to build a sandcastle."

Kara ignored them and kept right on screaming. She turned and ran towards Sawyer and Charlie, destroying the sandcastle as she went. The boys howled and raced after her, leaving Elisabeth, Sam and Annie to meekly follow—they'd been taught to keep with the others and never be alone near the ocean.

The boys were fast, but Kara had a head start, and she nearly flung herself at Sawyer, still screaming that something was in the water. Charlie rose to walk towards the gentle waves to assure her that it was probably just a friendly fish, when he stopped mid-step. Aaron went to Charlie and pulled on his arm,

"Kara ruined our sandcastle, Charlie! Charlie! Charlie?"

Sawyer now was standing, walking with some difficulty as Kara clung to his leg. Something _was_ in the water: something big and moving very fast towards the island. Aaron took a step backward. He knew what sharks were, and this wasn't a shark. He eased his small hand into Charlie's large one.

"What in the hell?" Sawyer yelped. "It can't be—well I'll be damned."

"Aaron, go back to the caves. Get everyone—_everyone_. Tell them to come to the beach."

Aaron didn't move. He squeezed Charlie's hand tighter—he'd never been so afraid in his life. Charlie looked down at him, and then stooped down in front of him.

"Hey, buddy, it's okay. It's just a boat. Like a plane in the water, you know what a plane is. We have to stay with the babies, but you're a big boy, and I need you to go to the caves and get your mother, and all the other adults and tell Kate to bring the baby too. Get everyone, and don't let anyone stay behind. Go, Aaron. Go!"

Aaron didn't need telling twice; he turned and started for the caves. He felt Elisabeth's hand in his, and saw the determined look on her face. He didn't say a word, and they ran and ran until they reached the caves.

Everyone stood on the shore, dragging the last of the baggage to the beach. Aaron held tight to Charlie's hand. He was still wary of the big thing—Charlie called it a boat—that loomed ahead of them. Beside them, his mother held Patrick in her arms, and all around the others were there and the men who came from the ship were helping put things on board. Where were they going? Charlie said they would go to Australia first, and then take a bigger boat to a place called Los Angeles (no more planes over water for any of them,) then a plane to a place called New York, and another boat to a place called London. Charlie said he lived there. Aaron was scared and confused—why were they leaving the island? It was their home, the only home Aaron and the other children had ever known. The only home they had ever had. Why were they leaving? Why was Charlie pulling him to get on the big thing when he didn't want to go? He tried to dig his feet in the sand, but Charlie only picked him up in his arms and carried him toward the ship that was taking them far, far away from the island. Aaron didn't fight; instead, he buried his head in Charlie's sleeve and cried. He was suddenly jealous of Patrick, who was too little to know about homes and leaving, and he reached for Claire.

"Momma," he whimpered. Claire and Charlie made an awkward switch so that Claire could pick up her oldest son and cuddle him.

"It's okay, baby." She cooed softly to him.

"I don't wanna leave. I like it here. It's my home." They were getting closer to the boat that Aaron hated. He watched them taking his cradle from Jack to put on the boat, and then balled up his fists as tears fell. It was really true. They were really leaving.

"We're going to a nicer home. We're going to go live in London with Charlie in a nice house and you and Patrick will have your own rooms and your own beds with pillows and curtains and lots and lots of toys to play with."

"What about everybody else?" Aaron asked, watching as Jack helped Elisabeth up the walkway, then moved to help Kate, who was holding Rose.

"They'll go to their homes." Charlie told him. "You can still visit Elisabeth. We'll have reunions every year."

"What are those?"

"Reunions are when people in a situation—like being together on an island—get together everyone once in a while to talk about things from then and tell each other how things are now."

"Can we come back to the island?"

He saw his parents look at each other. Then Charlie said, "No. I don't think we'll ever come back."

Aaron considered this for a moment as Claire followed Charlie up the walkway onto the ship. He wondered if there would ever be another place he and the other children could really call home. Would there be another place where the water met the sand? There must be—Jack had taught them about continents, and said that where land met ocean, most of the time there was beach, just like on the island. Sometimes it was too cold, and there was ice and snow, but it had never been cold and it had never snowed. Aaron hadn't believed him when Jack said that coldness fell from the sky like tiny feathers. All he knew was sun and rain and wind.

They were among the last to board, and they moved to find spots among the group gathered at the railing. Some, like Shannon and Locke, went down to find cabins. They were among those who didn't want to watch their departure. Aaron had no choice.

They found a spot near where Jack and Kate stood, and Aaron found Elisabeth and took her hand. They stood there watching the trees wave at them, and they waved back sadly. Soon, the boat began to move and the island began to get smaller and smaller until soon it was just a speck on the horizon. Slowly, those gathered around the railing left to go below, until only those with children were left. Those who were old enough to understand watched as the sea swallowed up their home. Soon, Jack and Kate went below too, and Elisabeth was gone from his side. Aaron scanned the horizon once more, searching, as he listened to his parents talk about what they would do when they got home. For Aaron, he was leaving home, going to a new place, maybe for a little while. But he would be with his mother and his father and his brother and the new baby that was coming soon. He told himself he would come back and find the island someday. Maybe he could take Elisabeth with him. With a deep breath, he turned to Charlie.

"I'm ready to go down now, Daddy."


End file.
